The number one reason that you feel overwhelmed when you are building your business is that you are doing every single thing by yourself. Or maybe you are starting from scratch each time and re-create the wheel over and over and over.

How many hours do you waste each week by spending your time on non-revenue generating activities?

At first, I get it, it can feel scary to pay for services that keep you organized.

It only feels scary, though, until you realize what you are saying “no” to when you are allowing yourself to say “yes” to your non-genius zone (and non-money making) activities.

I wonder…are you avoiding doing the real “work” that you know will move your business forward? Are you working yourself so hard so that your ego can convince yourself that you’ll never be able to live the life you dream about? Do you suffer from the “I need to make a lot of money first, and then I’ll invest” syndrome?

Those are all tricks of your inner critic, your ego, your gremlin, your what-the-heck-ever you want to call it. It’s an attempt to keep you stuck (i.e. “safe”) and to prevent you from moving forward into the exciting, and (seemingly unreachable) land of success.

When you shift your thinking to consider what it’s costing you to NOT invest in yourself and your business, things start to look quite different. (The first time I paid for a business coach, invested in any of the services below, or paid to have someone build my website, I freaked out a little bit. Ok, a lot. I had that feeling of fear in the pit of my stomach that I’ve come to realize is actually a clue that I need to take the step that I’m scared of, so that I can get the heck out of my comfort zone.) My freak out was short lived because I refocused on these questions instead:

What is it I want to be different?

What would it look like if I actually achieved it?

What is the cost of keeping things just as they are (ouch!)?

What is possible if I do invest in myself and my business?

So here’s what I’m asking for you to do today. Go through the list below and see which one of these resources is a good fit for you. Some are free and some have a monthly price tag. All of them are worth it (and you, too, are worth it.)

Time is your most precious resource and when you start to create systems and structures and get the support that you need, you’ll quickly see a return on your investment in the form of new clients, more “free time”, and an expansion of yourself and the world around you. It’s really a cool thing.

So, in no particular order, here are some of my favorite resources that put time back in your life:

Need to create a sales page? And in 5 minutes or less? No problem. Check out Leadpages. I highly, highly recommend.

Looking for an email service provider? I have used several and recommend all three of these: Mailchimp, Aweber, and Ontraport. (Click here for my review of Ontraport vs. Infusionsoft).

Insightly is an awe-some CRM. I used the free option until I upgraded to Ontraport (CRM is included).

To apply for a no cost Strategy Session with me, the first step is filling out a form on my website. If you don’t have the ability (or know how) for creating a form on your site, a great alternative is Jotform (free). I use Jotform for the pre-call forms that clients submit to me before each coaching session so that we make sure we spend our time on what matters most and will have the biggest impact in their business.

This one is my all time favorite. It’s called Prettylink. It allows you to create easy to remember links that re-direct to a specific webpage. It’s called link cloaking and it has saved me so. much. time. No more searching through my notes to find the link to a sales page or a product or something else! (Want to see it in action? Click here and see what happens: kristamartin.com/prettylink)

Trying to find an easy way for your clients to schedule time with you or to coordinate a meeting time? You need a tool for scheduling that doesn’t require the annoying back and forth of “does this time work for you? Oh no, it doesn’t? What about this time….” There are several great choices out there. I did some research and landed on Scheduleonce. I’m very happy with my choice.

REMINDER: A CEO mindset requires that you make decisions and get into action quickly. I didn’t research every single option but instead found something that I felt like was a good choice and decided. Remember, the universe rewards action. And, money likes speed.

I really like Nathalie Lussier’s Pop Up Ally. It was easy to set up and allows me to, in her words, “politiely” ask visitors on my website if they’d like to grab my free gift. (Many people join the Make Your Mark community via that very tool every single day.)

(Here’s a bonus!) I use Podio with my team. It helps us to share documents, assign tasks and it’s an easy way for us to keep track of progress on various projects in one place.

And now, I’m dying to know! What other tools have you found to be worth the investment in your business?